EXT. SPACE

In the distance, a single star shines brightly. The camera ZOOMS closer to the star, slowly at first, then gaining speed, until we arrive in

EXT. ALGO STAR SYSTEM - DEZORIS

EXT. MEADOW - DAY

A young girl, six years old, happily runs with her older brother through the grass of the meadow, down a hill. The nine year old boy, NERO LANDALE, runs ahead of his younger sister ALIS LANDALE.

Even as they age into teenagers, the two obviously remain close. Finally, we see Alis as a 15 year old girl, and Nero as a handsome, smiling 18 year old young man.

CAPTION: SPACE CENTURY 342. CAMINEET ON PALMA.

Suddenly, Nero is no longer handsome and smiling. His face is now badly bruised and bleeding, while he grimaces in pain, his nose mere inches from the pavement of the street.

Two SECURITY OFFICERS clad in high-tech combat armor kick the defenseless Nero and pummel him with the butts of the laser rifles they carry.

After a few more kicks to his head, the security officers nod in appreciation of a job well done.

After the cops are safely gone, a hesitant crowd gathers around Nero. Pushing to the front of the crowd is a woman, SUELO, and right behind her comes a man, NEKISE. Each of them appear to be in their late 30s or early 40s.

EXT. CAMINEET - STREET - DUSK

It is now much later in the day, and Alis walks the streets of her city as the sun sets. She has obviously been crying, and her tears have not altogether stopped.

She stops in her tracks and watches as down and across the street, two more of Lassic's Cops stop a woman walking down the street, holding the hand of a child.

As Nekise and Alis walk in the front door, Suelo quickly calls their attention to the newsbeam.

INT. LANDALE HOME - ALIS'S ROOM - MORNING

Alis, obviously packing for a long trip, places things in a backpack. She finishes, zipping the backpack, and then throws it over her shoulders, heading towards her bedroom door.

INT. LANDALE HOME - MAIN ROOM - CONTINUOUS

When Alis steps into the main room, she is somewhat shocked to see Nekise and Suelo sitting on the sofa, waiting for her. At first, Alis is unclear as to what their intentions are. She opens her mouth as if to speak, but Suelo beats her to it.

Alis again emerges from her bedroom. Her backpack is still across her shoulders, but this time, she is clad in a striking suit of armor, and she carries in her right hand a short sword.

Alis breaks away from Suelo to look towards Nekise.

Alis strolls down the street confidently, her sword in a scabbard that hangs from her belt, and the Laconian Pot hanging from the side of her backpack.

She approaches the gates of the city -- specifically, a small dome which contains an elevator that leads down to ground level. (The city Camineet rests on a platform above the ground.) Two of Lassic's Security Cops guard the dome. One of them sees Alis approaching, and he nudges his companion in the ribs to get his attention. They chuckle, and wait for Alis to approach.

When the elevator's descent ends, Alis steps out into the grassy plain and looks around. The Camineet residential district is surrounded by a tall wall. A roadway -- also elevated off the ground, like Camineet -- connects the city to the spaceport, which is connected to another nearby city, Parolit.

However, Alis's attention is focused on the opening in the perimeter wall -- her destination, the first step on the road to Scion.

She takes a deep breath, looks towards the sky.

In a MONTAGE of scenes, we watch as Alis marches her way east across the Palman prairie. First, we see her walking through high grass, swinging her sword before her, half in an effort to clear a path, half simply to keep herself occupied.

Next, we see her stopping in the middle of a field of short, green grass. She has tied her hair back in a ponytail, and she stops to drink water from a canteen.

In the next scene, we see Alis walking through a path in a small grove of trees. There is a rustling in a nearby shrub, and Alis quickly draws her sword from her scabbard, keeping her eyes focused on the jostling in the shrub.

A second later, a small squirrel tentatively pokes its head out of the shrub, and glances at Alis. Alis smiles, puts her sword away, and then motions for the squirrel to cross the road. It quickly emerges from its hiding place and disappears up a tree on the other side of the path. Alis continues on.

Finally, we find Alis in another field, this one mostly wide open except for a few trees. Alis sits at the base of one of the trees, her backpack off and resting in front of her, as she pulls a burger from her bag and starts to unwrap it.

A small fly buzzes her head and her food; she shoos it away with her hand. It circles back, comes in for another pass. Again, she dismisses it with a wave.

Suddenly, a much, much larger fly -- a Sworm -- buzzes past her head, knocking into it, and tossing Alis onto her side. Her burger falls from her hand as the Sworm swings around for another pass. She at least sees it coming this time, but still, all she can do is roll out of the way.

As it comes around buzzing for another pass, she covers her head and rolls again, then again. Finding herself near her knapsack, she quickly unhooks the Laconian Pot, and as the Sworm flies around towards her again, she swings the Pot through the air. It slams into the Sworm squarely, almost instantly flattening the bug, which is then knocked against the nearby tree. It then falls to the ground and does not move.

Out of breath, more from shock than physical exertion, Alis looks at the dead Sworm -- a fly bigger than her head -- and then looks at the Laconian Pot in her hand.

Alis steps into the city of Scion, a dock town near the ocean. The men who worked on the docks before Lassic closed the ports sit around near their ships, nothing better to do than look at Alis suspiciously as she strolls down the street, casually taking in her surroundings.

She pauses, looks upon a group of dock workers who are staring at her. A 15 year old girl with a sword isn't something one sees every day. She gives them a cautious smile. They scoff and turn away.

Eyeing a nearby general store, Alis turns and walks towards it, stepping inside.

INT. SCION GENERAL STORE - CONTINUOUS

The store is an Algoian version of a convenience store, and the man behind the counter, Whitman, watches Alis as suspiciously as the dock workers did.

The darkness of the room tells us it is night, and the room itself is lit only by candles. Here, in the center of the room, the king of the Algo system, Lassic, kneels on a cushion, surrounded by candles, some in tall candelabras, some sitting directly on the floor. He seems to be in meditation, his eyes closed.

There is a knock at the room's single wooden door.

Alis walks down the street, Suelo at her side. The sun is just rising above the city. In the distance, a space ship takes off from the nearby spaceport.

INT. PAROLIT EXOTIC PETS STORE - THAT MOMENT

The shopkeeper, Keeth, has just returned to his post behind his counter as the two women enter the store.

Alis and Suelo start to look around the store.

In it, a yellow cat -- a cat with tall, long ears like a rabbit and a fluffy, bushy tail like a squirrel -- stares her down with its big green eyes. It looks out past its cage at her from a rigid face, betraying no emotion but mild curiosity. Around its neck is a small bottle of pink fluid.

EXT. PAROLIT - OUTSIDE PET STORE

Alis and Suelo leave the pet store, the Musk Cat trotting ahead of them by a few steps.

Across the way, Alis spots more stores. She gestures for the others to follow, and they move across the street.

EXT. PAROLIT - A MOMENT LATER

They enter a space between two stores, and start walking their way around behind the buildings. Alis again crouches before Myau.

FADE TO BLACK